Alan Dale Is Returning To Neighbours 25 Years Later

Gold 104.3

Posted on December 10, 2018
by Olivia Esveld

Looks like Ramsay Street is about to see another familiar face!

25 years after his character Jim Robinson was killed off the long running Aussie soap Neighbours and following his stint on The O.C, Alan Dale has revealed that he is making a shock return to the series.

Despite saying he would never return, the 71-year-old actor revealed that he is set to appear in an upcoming Christmas episode this year.

“I did say I was never going to return,” revealed Alan to TV Week. “Because I was dead!”

Back in 1993, Alan’s character Jim was dealing with a family feud over his relationship with Fiona Hartman, causing him to have a stress induced heart attack.

While the death came as a shock to fans of the show, Alan said that his departure was inevitable due to tensions behind the scenes.

“I had some disagreements, so that’s how we parted ways back then,” he continued.

But it seems that it’s all water under the bridge now! Alan revealed that he filmed a special cameo appearance while visiting his friend Stefan Dennis, who plays his on-screen son Paul Robinson, on set.

“I try to get out to Australia and New Zealand most years to keep in touch and I’m still close friends with Stefan,” explained Alan, who now lives in the US. “I went to visit him - and then a producer asked me if I’d be interested in coming on. I said yes.”

“A lot of the crew were the same people I worked with back in the day,” he continued. “It was fun to catch up with the.”

As for how Alan will re-enter the show, the star didn’t really give much away, saying that fans will have to watch to find out.

“I don’t want to ruin the story - you’ll have to wait and see,” he teased. “I just wanted to finish the circle and put all that stuff [the unhappiness behind his original departure] behind me.”

Alan Dale currently stars in Dynasty as Anders the Carrington family's butler.